Somerset Archaeol Natur Hist 134

An area close to the south western corner was excavated prior to quarrying. There was little evidence for Iron Age occupation although pits close to the western rampart revealed pottery of second century BC date. Three pits contained charred plant remains of which emmer wheat was the most significant part. This was associated with waste which suggested that the last stages of crop processing were carried out on site and with weed seeds which suggested a variety of off-site sources for the crops. The finds are detailed in sections including flint and chert, pottery, wall daub, stone pebbles, metalwork, baked clay objects, `Carbonised seeds' by Joy Ede (39--43), and animal bones. Au(adp)

An overview of known and suspected finds from this cave system is given as part of a broader ongoing study of Romano-British cave usage (see also 92/452). There are sections on pottery, coins, fibulae, objects of copper alloy, lead and lead/tin, iron, stone, and bone. It is suggested that there was a reasonably significant break between Iron Age and Roman occupation. The nature of the Roman evidence indicated initial non-intensive, non-domestic activity. There was evidence for burial practice in the caves during the second and fourth centuries AD, and later domestic occupation which may have included craft working. There is an appendix (77--8) giving a list of items with no provenance or reliable date. IH

Excavations confirmed the site of the main monastic buildings of the first Carthusian monastery in England, founded in 1179. This paper sets the excavations in their topographical and historical background and presents a digest of the excavated data based on the archive material. The plan of the Great Cloister was established, together with the position of one possible cell, a large building (possibly the chapter house), and the church. There is considerable evidence for structural alteration, and for continuing use in the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries AD. Interpretations presented here are considered to be tentative. The earliest monastic material is of the late thirteenth century. Suggestions are made for further research to resolve outstanding questions. Au(abr)

Work during the year is listed under eight headings, survey and fieldwork (including aerial reconnaissance), multi-period, prehistoric, Roman, migration and early medieval, medieval, post-medieval, and finally industrial. IH

A study of traditional buildings produced evidence of curing chambers from all over Somerset, as well as in adjoining counties. There are two common varieties the earlier of which is a `walk-in' chamber type where one side of the hearth was enclosed for the length of the room beneath a wide flue. A later `semi-enclosed' chamber allowed a different sort of fuel to be used if required. A third type rises above first floor level with an access door on the first floor. Whilst the majority are divided between the first two types, and are found at ground level, variations and anomalous structures are also documented. Corn kilns were larger structures that initially existed at the same time as curing chambers. However the latter were often discontinued and examples of later adaptations are also provided. IH

The analysis of grey-green unweathered micritic cement from the centres of large, heavily cemented blocks of said river gravels revealed uniformly well preserved, but very sparse, pollen and microfossils. These were interpreted as being indicative of a temperate climate and a meandering river passing through a predominantly wooded landscape. An earlier work published by the author et al is reassessed in the light of this and other work. It is suggested that the Burtle Beds contain elements comparable with the Ipswichian, Hoxonian and Stanton Harcourt phases and are subsequently in urgent need of re-examination. IH